Saw McGowan supporting Billy Bragg - an interesting artist.
Went to see one of the bands I needed to tick off of my list to see live, Avenged Sevenfold. They were in Newcastle and very good.
Just the below I need to tick off.
Aerosmith - Download 2017
Queens of the Stoneage
REM - need to reform!
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Iâm hoping to pootle along to this: https://safeasmilkfestival.com/sam17
Some high quality stuff on that bill.
I had no idea Chrome were still a going concern.
Nightmare traffic but made it to the middle of the Desert for Guns n Roses
And got 50% discount on a ticket for Bryan Adams next week!
25,000 here
Isnât their lead singerâs name an anagram of Up The Shitter (or some other sexual act)?
They ainât Metallica.
But what an Epic gig.
Could listen to Slash playing that Guitar for years
The GnR gig was an organisational cluster fuck of company killing proportions. 1000s couldnât get near the venue. Many more had to abandon cars & walk 5kms.
Even the band had to go off road to make it (and got stuck!). At the end 30000 people and 12 buses meant people had a 30km walk to civilisation. We got home 2 hours after the gig we live 25kms away
Tonight we made no mistake for Bryan Adams with Our half price tickets. So are at the venue bored 3 hours early!
Interestingly, their Singapore gig was also a cluster fuck so felt better about things
Canât let last night pass without a âreviewâ.
Bryan has been to Dubai 5 times since 1993 (Iâve seen 4 of them).
Comparing GnR & Bryan is a great opportunity - GnR was âEpicâ âOnce in a Lifetimeâ âBucketlistâ type event with around 30,000 people in the Stadium (huge by our standards). For Bryan the viewing area was reduced to accomodate around 10,000 and I would guess there was around 8,000 there. GnR tickets were about 90 quid for REGULAR - the nearest you could get was about 50m from the stage - for Bryan Regular was 50 quid but we got a special BOGOF deal. Us Regulars could get within about 20m of the stage.
GnR was an immersive experience, but tbh I am not a âmegaâ fan, I knew maybe 10 songs and maybe 5 I knew the words to. Slash showed his skill with stunning and soaring âMetalâ Guitar Solos but also with a stunning rendition of the Godfather theme which morphed into Sweet Child of Mine. - A moment up there with hearing the Stones rock into any of their hits (or Barry Gbb doing Staying Alive at Glasto) - Certainly a moment I will never forget.
And Bryan? Well it was like with GnR being a trip to the Opera - a dress code, an expectation of when to be awed. Bryan was like a trip to the Joiners to hear a Mate play.
And this was the difference, they both played over two hours, Bryan played 4 new songs and yet everyone had sing-a-long moments that we were coached into, every one of those new songs made us dance. After 40 minutes we had both lost our voices singing along. After an hour we were feeling dismayed that having heard Summer of 69, Run to You, and Everything I do there was nothing left in the âhitsâ tank. oh no, the hots kept coming, the singing got more and more melodic and intense (think we all hit the limit of trying to hit his vocal range and everyone in the crowd went down a Key).
His âEncoreâ involved a stunning Big Boppa cover, his new stuff had a wonderful Lennon/Beatles feel without being corny. He mixed things up with mini-sets of Unplugged versions of his classics, but obviously played all of his âAnthemsâ at full blast, and of course there were plenty of Guitar Solos. In fact while TECHNICALLY not even on the same planet as Slash, the solos were actually Anthems, letâs face it that opening Riff in Run to you IS a classic and an extended solo of that tune gets even me with my bad knees & back Air Guitaring like a maniac.
His last song? well, I have to say that was the first time I have ever had Goosies at a concert from the Music alone.
The Stones obviously because of âThe Momentâ, Coldplay at Glasto because of the entire sensation, but when he sang âI do it for youâ. On his own, unplugged on Acoustic Guitar, with everyone in the crowd doing a âMarkus Tributeâ (even the Security Guards joined in - Phones, Lighters Matches) and of course Singing it was Spine tingling. I reckon they could have heard us singing in Oman (mind you we were almost IN Oman the venue is so far out of town!)
Honestly, I am so happy I saw GnR. But last night was just fantastic fun, enjoyment, entertainment and just quality.
Perhaps GnR was like watching an England win game against Germany, Bryan was like watching Saints thrash the Skates.
I think his âuntrendynessâ is probably because he has written so many âSoft Rock Balladsâ but then perhaps that is why he is such a good show - you CAN take your other half, and sing along together and hug and dance andâŚ
IF he comes your way, go see. He ainât âcoolâ but by heck you will sing (almost) every damned song. A Legend in every sense of the word.
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Hazel OâConnor tonight - worth it just for the sax solo on Will You.
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Iâd like them to sort out ticket touts. But when the tickets sites have their secondary touts sites canât see that really happening.
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The worst aspect of the music business these days, if you ignore Cowell, is ticket agencies + their touting friends, and ridiculous service charges.
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That and Ed Sheeran.
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Have a feeling that tonight I might be cross posting from here to the Pickled on a Friday thread.
Anyway, off to the Brook to see a BMATW tribute band.
Jah anâ ting.
Great gig.
They are regulars at The Brook.
See them if you can.
Just caught a bit of The Jesus and Mary Chain on BBC6 - they are at times torturous but when they get it right itâs a thing of great beauty, and those are the moments you remember.
Stewart Lee next week for me.
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Well last night we took in âP&O Oceanaâs Got Talentâ and I can tell you now, âCare in The Communityâ has a lot to answer for. 
Having said that weâve been pretty-well smashed by 10 oâclock most evenings for the last 10 days so it was, as comedy shows go, pretty hilarious. I say âcomedy showâ but I have to tell you now none of them were intentionally funny.
First up was Sam, an octogenarian crooner who gave us his rendition of Frank Sinartraâs âHigh Hopesâ.âŚhis performance can only be described as Brave, not least for the fact that he brought the audience to a hushed silence as he fell in the second chorus, to a 5 metre Atlantic swell. Helped to his feet, what a trooper, he finished the song to great appauseâŚthere wasnât a dry seat in the house.
Janice followedâŚnot to be thwarted by the fact they couldnât find a backing-track to the only song she knew âThe Streets of Parisâ she soldiered on singing it a capella with a drunken audience joining in. This we thought was plucky stuffâŚmade you feel proud to be French.
There followed an seemingly autistic chap who recited Tom Jonesâ Deliah dead-pan. It was a harrowing performance of not one of the cheeriest songs youâve ever heard. We thought it advisable to applaud heartily.
The next performers were a Ukelele player who couldnât, and a Londoner who sang, very poorly, âMaybe itâs Beacause Iâm a LondonerââŚwe looked at each other and agreed with him, yes very likely.
Top of the bill was Bill. Bill was a smartly attired 70 something who produced from his pocket a chromatic harmonicaâŚnot a mouth-organ⌠a proper harmonica. He proceeded to play like Toots Thielemans.
It was a reliefâŚwe were pretty laughed-out by that time. Great all-round entertainment.
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da man. no ands.
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